As A Man Thinketh In His Heart …

Things Every Literate Person Knows

Edgar A. Guest—The People’s Poet—publishes his philosophy for daily life in his book, A Heap o’ Living: Along Life’s Highway.

When Day Is Done.Edgar A. Guest

My Creed.

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TO live as gently as I can;
To be, no matter where, a man;
To take what comes of good or ill
And cling to faith and honor still;
To do my best, and let that stand
The record of my brain and hand;
And then should failure come to me,
Still work and hope for victory.

To have no secret place wherein
I stoop unseen to shame or sin;
To be the same when I’m alone
As when my every deed is known;
To live undaunted, unafraid
Of any step that I have made;
To be without pretense or sham
Exactly what men think I am.

To leave some simple mark behind
To keep my having lived in mind;
If enmity to aught I show.
To be an honest, generous foe,
To play my little part, nor whine
That greater honors are not mine,
This, I believe, is all I need
For my philosophy and creed.